That's global football star David Beckham in the photo. You know Beckham, right? It's hard to be a sports fan and not at least know the name. But you don't have to care about sports to recognize Beckham. His Wikipedia page is a lengthy testimonial to a 35 year-old who... Continue reading

That's Elizabeth the Second, Queen of England, delivering her annual Christmas Broadcast. If you take the seven or so minutes to listen to Her Majesty, you'll hear what for me was an unexpected message: the cooperation that is vital for civilization to thrive (and which produced the now-Standard King James... Continue reading

Yes, that is Shaquille O'Neal at the podium, conducting the Boston Pops in concert earlier this week. Photo by Michele McDonald for the New York Times. The relationship between athletes and their teams' cities is complicated. Most are likened to Itinerant mercenaries who'll play anywhere for top dollar. Most fans... Continue reading

That's a still from an online video that demonstrates how reading the sports page gives you an instant lens on modern culture and psychology. Those feet are purported to belong to Michelle Ryan, wife of New York Jets' coach Rex for the last 23 years. If you watch the video... Continue reading

That's NY Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez, photographed by the NYTimes' Ben Solomon. A second-year quarterback, Sanchez has been struggling recently. He's led his team to a 9-4 record, second best in their division. They're among the AFC leaders. Not good enough. The Jets have lost two straight, their offense sputtering.... Continue reading

This is a blog inspired by a book. This book. That's David Goldblatt's extraordinary work, The Ball Is Round, which chronicles the global history of what the rest of the world calls "football" and what we Americans call "soccer." The fact that this game, played by more than a billion... Continue reading

"Why not take the train?" I was in Chicago Saturday. I needed to get to Detroit. What not take the train. I'm a train buff. So the train always occurs to me. And I think of it especially when confronted with the prospect of spending any time in a crowded, airless metal cylinder at 31,000 ...

As hard as listening is, it's the easiest part of the process. Determining meaning is harder (it's collaborative and ambiguous, so that makes it hard). Having a culture that supports those two activities is the hardest of all. Changing from having a culture that doesn't to one that does is extraordinarily difficult. As Bruce said in his video, that's where most organizations fall short, sometimes fatally.

Watch this video by Bruce Nussbaum, BusinessWeek's innovation editor and veteran employee with the company. It's a fascinating illustration of the shifts in business we are seeing in real time. Media outlets in particular have been on the front lines of this shift. As I've said many times bef...

This movement reminds me of another that's beginning to gain momentum: http://www.businessweek.com/careers/managementiq/archives/2009/09/gap_to_employee.html Results Only Work Environments (ROWE). I think we will see more institutions of all kinds understand the futility of space/time specific activities and adapt to the world in which we all now live: boundaryless/always-on. Or be supplanted by new institutions that do.

No one is talking about it, but what's happening to journalism may some day happen to higher education. It's not too early to look down the road. Tim Sullivan and I were chatting about the options the other day and I came away with this rough sketch of a radical scenario: the university cont...

Wasn't this the theme of the Wizard of Oz? Not to mention Vaihinger's philosophy of the "as if"? Oh, and AA's mantra: "fake it 'til you make it"? An odd trifecta! Anyway, acting the way we want to become and then becoming what we've acted is pivotal to change and success.
And, I want to cast still another vote for cover #1!

Any corporation can be forgiven being a little anxious these days. Everyone's confidence is being tested. I interviewed Debbie Millman over the weekend, and she helped me see an unexpected connection between this confidence and the brand. When the corporation loses it's nerve, it ceases to...

I have worked with Paula Rosch several times over the years. So when I sat down to think about who was acting in the capacity of an unspoken Chief Culture Officer, she came to mind. I asked Paula if she would sit down and tell me about how she helped make Kimberly-Clark a living, breathing c...

Just catching up. Mildly ironic dismissals (see, WTF?) are fun. They also provides us with hostility-deniability cover (meeting our need for affiliation) while still asserting our superiority over another (ditto for need for power), all while sounding resoundingly clever (need for achievement). Bingo: "really?" is a motivational need-meeting trifecta!

It's fashionable to say "really?" in a new way. The old way of saying "really?" meant (roughly) Wow, that's interesting. Thanks! As in: "Did you know the Pittsburgh Pirates are the worst team in Christendom? "Really!"The new way of saying "really?" means (roughly), "That's what you're goi...

Anthropological dreams are made of this: helping Disney and Marvel manage their rapprochement. Nothing short of heroic effort will do. Disney is, after all, a pretty good marker for all that is mainstream about American culture. Marvel is, by deliberate contrast, darker and less predictable...

I had to attend a "Meet-and-Greet-Wine-and-Cheese," and don't you love howthosewordsallruntogether? And in what order do we accomplish the four tasks? I decided to first meet or greet (sometimes I greeted people before meeting them, whatever that means) and I had resolved not to wine or che...

Oh, the folks in Dumbo are gonna love Jeni's. We live in Connecticut but my daughter is in Ohio and introduced us to the world's best ice cream several years ago. Glad to see they're starting with only 6 flavors 'cause their obviously well-managed production system will be taxed by this first extra-Columbus effort. My bet is they'll do a great job.

I happened to run into Tom Bauer from Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams this morning and he greeted me with a great bit of news: Jeni's will be carried at the Foragers Market in Dumbo, Brooklyn, NYC!! Alas, I haven't been to the Foragers Market, but I love their tag line/philosophy: "A new breed o...

Wow. This is the first blog of yours I've ever read and it blew me away. Very true-to-life description of the conflicts we live day-to-day as parents in today's world. I'm a psychologist but I'm not familiar with Mr. (Dr.?) Kohn's work. What I found fascinatingly refreshing was your fair-minded assessment of his approach (not resorting to stereotypical polemics) and the way integrated it into your own parenting style, with very positive results. Very nice.

As a parent who frequently turns to the use of bribes and threats in parenting four kids, it was with great interest that I read an email from my school’s PTA inviting me to attend a presentation by Alfie Kohn on Unconditional Parenting-Beyond Bribes and Threats. I had never heard of Alfie Ko...